Nucleic acids

• Carbohydrates

• Lipids

• Proteins

• Nucleic acids

Functions of nucleic acids / nucleotides

• Building blocks of chromosomes– 1.– 2.

• Energy carriers– 1.

• Capture reducing power– 1.– 2.

Nucleic acid structure

• DNA and RNA have a couple important differences– The sugar– The choice of nucleotide bases

– Know the difference between DNA and RNA!

DNA = ___________________________

RNA = ___________________________

The nucleic acid has three components:1. _____________

2. _____________

3. _____________

• The purines are:

• The pyrimidines are:

Dehydration to form the nucleotide from its component units

NH

N

N

O

NH2NH

O

H

HH

H

CH2

HOH

OP-O

O

O-

NH

N

N

O

NH2N

O

H

HH

HHOH

OP-O

O

O-

OHHO

- 2 H2O

Dehydration reactions to link nucleotide units to form nucleic acids

Always name nucleic acids from 5’ to 3’ !!!

ATP / ADP = adenosine triphosphate / adenosine diphosphate

NADH = nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide;

NADPH = nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide

phosphate

Nomenclature considerations

• The building block unit nucleic acids is the __________

• The individual component pyrimidines and purines are called:

• The names change when they are incorporated into the nucleotide structure:

• The names are abbreviated in a couple ways: – Three letter abbreviations: (for DNA, for RNA)

– One letter abbreviations: